Savitribai Phule

#26/100 in #100extraordinarywomen

Savitribai Jyotirao Phule was an Indian social reformer and poet. She is described as "one of the first-generation modern Indian feminists" and the “Mother Of Modern Girls’ Education In India”. She may not be as famous as Mahatma Gandhi or Swami Vivekananda. But her impact on the liberation of the Indian woman has been no less spectacular or significant. One of the earliest crusaders of education for girls, and dignity for the most vulnerable sections of society – dalits, women and widows, Savitribai broke all the traditional shackles of 19th century India to herald a new age of thinking. She can be legitimately hailed as the mother of Indian Feminism. 

Savitribai Phule was born on 3 January 1831 in Naigaon, Maharashtra. Her family were farmers. At the age of nine, she was married to twelve-year-old Jyotirao Phule in 1840. As a new bride at the age of nine, when Savitribai moved to her marital home in Pune in 1840, her most prized possession was a book that had been given to her by some Christian missionary. Impressed by her thirst for learning, her husband, then all of 13, taught her to read and write, little knowing that this would lay the foundation for a whole new chapter in Indian history. In times when women were treated no better than the cattle at home, Savitribai Phule earned the distinction of being the first Indian woman to become a teacher. She worked as both an educational reformer and social reformer, especially for women. 

Along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule, she played an important role in improving women's rights in India during British rule. The couple founded the first women's school at Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848 and Savitri served there as India’s first female teacher. She was taught and trained by her husband. Her father-in-law, when he learnt about his son preparing his wife to be a teacher, threatened to drive him away from his house, fearing attach by orthodox elements. But Savitri stood determined by her husband’s side. Thereafter, Jyotirao sent her to a training school, first Ms. Farar’s Institution at Ahmednagar and then to Ms. Mitchell’s school in Pune. She passed out with flying colours and went on to open and run the first ever only girls’ school for backward classes and condemned widows. Long believed to be the preserve of the Brahmins, children from other castes and communities were denied the right to an education. Savitribai and her husband broke the rules and established the first school for girls in 1848 in Bhide Wada, Narayan Peth, Pune. Eight girls, belonging to different castes, enrolled as students on the first day. When she started her unique school, Savitribai also overcame another hurdle – of women not being allowed to step outside the home to work. Of course, the young woman had to contend with a lot of opposition. She carried a change of sari with her every day as men pelted her with stones, mud and even dung as she made her way to the school. But undeterred by all the opposition, Savitribai opened another school for adults the same year. By 1851, she was running three schools with around 150 girl students. Today, government programmes like the ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’, the Right to Education Act and the midday meal scheme that incentivize education, may seem like modern concepts, but even 150 years back Savitribai had set a precedent – she gave stipends to prevent children from dropping out of school. She was the teacher who inspired a young student to ask for a library for the school at an award ceremony instead of gifts for herself. A poet and writer, Savitribai had motivated another young girl, Mukta, to write an essay that became the cornerstone of ‘Dalit literature’. She even conducted the equivalent of a parent-teacher meeting to involve the parents so they would understand the importance of education and support their children. Her schools imparted vocational training as well. At a time when people hardly identified the grievances of women in India, Savitri and her husband stood up to fight the injustice against women. 

She also worked to abolish discrimination and unfair treatment of people based on caste and gender. During the 19th century, arranged marriages before the age of maturity was the norm in the Hindu society of Maharashtra. Since mortality rates were high, many young girls often became widows even before attaining maturity. Due to social and cultural practices of the times, widow remarriage was out of question and therefore prospects for the young widows were poor. The 1881 Kolhapur gazetteer records that widows at that time used to shave their heads, and wear simple red saris and had to lead a very austere life with little joy. Savitribai and Jyotirao were moved by the plight of these girls. They organized a strike against the barbers to persuade them to stop shaving the heads of widows. Also, these helpless women, with no way to refuse this treatment, were easy prey for rape, often by male members of the extended family. A poster from 1863 reads something like this: “Women who conceive out of wedlock should go to the home of Jyotirao Govindrao Phule for their confinement. Their names will be kept confidential”. Pained by the plight of young Kashibai, a widow sentenced to ‘Kalapani’ rigorous imprisonment in the Andamans for killing her newborn, the Phules had opened up their home as a shelter for young widows. Raped by family members and then disowned when pregnant, these women often resorted to suicide or killed their babies for fear of being ostracized by the society. The couple even adopted one child as their own. Once, Jyotirao stopped a pregnant lady from committing suicide, promising her to give her child his name after it was born. Savitribai accepted the lady in her house and helped her deliver the child. Savitribai and Jyotirao later adopted this child and named him Yashavantrao. He grew up to become a doctor. Savitribai and her husband established a center for caring for pregnant rape victims and delivering their children. The care center was called “Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha” (Infanticide prohibition house). Savitri ran the home and considered all the children born in the home her own.

Moved by the treatment of the untouchables, who were refused drinking water meant for the upper caste, the Phule couple opened the well in their own house in 1868 for these communities. Savitribai and Jyotirao were always there for the community. In 1877, their region was hit by a severe drought. The couple launched the “Victoria Balashram” and aided by friends and funds collected by going from village to village, they fed over a thousand people every day. Tiffany Wayne has described Phule as "one of the first-generation modern Indian feminists, and an important contributor to world feminism in general, as she was both addressing and challenging not simply the question of gender in isolation but also issues related to caste and casteist patriarchy."

Savitribai broke yet another taboo when she led the funeral procession of her husband. Even today, the Hindu last rites are considered to be the sacred privilege of men alone. When Jyotiba passed away in 1890, warring relatives tried to wrest the rights of performing the last rites away from Yeshwant, faulting his parentage. Savitribai took the ‘titve’, or the funeral mud-pot, herself and led the procession. She then took charge of the “Satya Shodhak Samaj” as a legacy her husband had left behind for her.

Yashwant, their adopted son, trained as a doctor and eventually joined his mother in all the good work she did. Setting an example for others, she conducted his wedding under the “Satya shodhak samaj”, or the truth-seekers society, with no priests, no dowry and at very little expense. She even brought her son’s fiancée for a home stay before the wedding, so she could get familiar with her soon-to-be home and family. Moreover, she took on the household chores so the young woman had time to study. Savitribai Phule and her adopted son, Yashwant, opened a clinic to treat those affected by the worldwide Third Pandemic of the bubonic plague when it appeared in the area around Pune in 1897. The clinic was established at Sasane Mala, Hadapsar, near Pune, but out of the city in an area free of infection. Savitribai personally took patients to the clinic where her son treated them. Even the fear of death did not deter this brave woman from doing what she felt was right. She even carried young Pandurang Babaji Gaikwad, a 10-year-old boy, from Mundhwa to the clinic strapped to her back. Ironically, he beat the infection but Savitribai caught it and on 10 March 1897, she breathed her last.

Savitribai Phule wrote many Marathi poems against discrimination and advised to get educated. Two books of her poems were published posthumously, Kavya Phule (1934) and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (1982). The Government of Maharashtra has instituted an award in her name to recognize women social reformers. In 2015, the University of Pune was renamed as Savitribai Phule Pune University in her honour. On 10 March 1998 – her 101st death anniversary – a stamp was released by India Post in honour of Phule.

If you are an Indian woman who reads, you owe her. If you are an educated Indian woman, you owe her. If you are an Indian schoolgirl going to school each day, you owe her. If you are an educated international desi woman, you owe her. Today, every educated Indian woman owes a debt of gratitude to Savitribai Phule. 

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